Pandey ton gives Karnataka edge

Tottering at 153/5, Himachal Pradesh need 133 more for victory

Manish Pandey played an innings of precisely that nature to carry Karnataka to the brink of victory against Himachal Pradesh at the HPCA stadium on Friday.

Pandey’s second consecutive hundred (112, 252m, 178b, 13x4, 3x6) powered the visitors, 73 for four overnight, to 230 in their second innings for an overall lead of 285 on the third day of the Ranji Trophy Super League Group B encounter.



Pandey’s brilliance also spurred the competitive instincts of Karnataka’s bowlers as they plucked five wickets of Himachal Pradesh for 153. The hosts need a further 133 runs to win on the final day.

After the early departures of overnight partner Amit Verma and first-innings centurion Stuart Binny, Pandey came up with an innings laced with patience, purpose and the occasional show of aggression. At 93 for six and an overall lead of just 148, Karnataka needed someone to take charge of the situation and stem the rot.

Pandey shouldered that responsibility with aplomb, conjuring a special hundred. The most remarkable fact about his innings was the flexibility he showed in marshaling the lower-order batsmen. To the vastly experienced Sunil Joshi, the youngster played a supporting role during their vital 43-run partnership in which the left-hander was the domineering figure.

Even that alliance did not exactly put Karnataka in a safe position and they needed to further expand the lead of 191 at Joshi’s departure. But with only Aditya B Sagar, playing his only second match, and the late-order batsmen remaining, the task appeared improbable.

Himachal bowlers, fiery from the start of the day, too might have thought of putting an early end to the Karnataka innings. But Pandey and Sagar proved them wrong with a stubborn stand in which the former assumed the lead role. The pair added 89 for the eighth wicket and never looked in any serious discomfort as runs flowed at a reasonable pace.

The only time Pandey gave vent to his aggressive instincts was, strangely, when in his 90s. A hectic sequence of 6, 4, 6 off left-arm spinner Kuldip Dewan carried him past the three-figure mark. Though he did not last much longer after reaching his hundred, Pandey ensured that the bowlers had a formidable total to defend.

They indeed defended the total with spirit. Abhimanyu Mithun has been unlucky throughout this season not to have grabbed more wickets despite some excellent spells. But he put behind some uncomfortable memories to come up with a furious spell that rattled the top order. It was a classic fast bowler’s spell marked with intent and aggression.

Opener Hemant Dogra looked as if he was intent on a third-day finish and his adventurous stay ended when Mithun found a thick edge for KB Pawan to complete a smart catch behind the stumps.

Sangram Singh and Bhavin Thakkar fell to Sagar and Arvind respectively before Mithun returned for his second spell to inflict further damage. The right-arm pacer got rid of Vineet Indulkar and Kuldip Dewan soon. The wicket of Indulkar, with whom Mithun exchanged a few piercing stares, also elicited a primeval grunt from him and it needed the intervention of umpire Amiesh Saheba to cool the bowler down.

However, a fortune-aided but gritty 101-run unbeaten sixth-wicket partnership between skipper Paras Dogra and Manvinder Bisla, who made a fine fifty, saved Himachal from total disaster. But Karnataka still hold all the aces.

Score Board

KARNATAKA (I Innings): 254 all out in 86.3 overs.
HIMACHAL PRADESH (I Innings): 199 all out in 54.4 overs.
KARNATAKA (II Innings, O/n: 73/4): KL Rahul b Mohinder 12 (59m, 27b, 2x4), KB Pawan c Indulkar b Mohinder 1 (23m, 18b), Ganesh Satish c P Dogra b Malik 0 (13m, 11b), Robin Uthappa lbw Dhawan 11 (40m, 24b, 1x4), Manish Pandey c Sangram b Dhawan 112 (252m, 178b, 13x4, 3x6), Amit Verma c Bisla b Malik 20 (65m, 47b, 4x4), Stuart Binny lbw Mohinder 6 (23m, 20b, 1x4), Sunil Joshi c Indulkar b Dhawan 21 (42m, 23b, 3x4), Aditya Sagar c Bisla b Mohinder 29 (108m, 67b, 4x4), A Mithun (not out) 1 (14m, 10b), S Arvind b Dhawan 4 (6m, 3b, 1x4). Extras (B-2, LB-2, NB-9) 13. Total (all out, 71 overs) 230.
Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Pawan), 2-12 (Satish), 3-22 (Rahul), 4-33 (Uthappa), 5-74 (Amit), 6-93 (Binny), 7-136 (Joshi), 8-225 (Pandey), 9-225 (Sagar).
Bowling: Vikramjeet Malik 17-4-39-2 (nb-1), Mohinder Sharma 14-1-52-4 (nb-3), Rishi Dhawan 18-5-40-4 (nb-1), Jitender Mehta 11-2-34-0 (nb-4), Sangram Singh 2-0-10-0, Kuldip Dewan 8-2-42-0, Hemant Dogra 1-0-9-0.
HIMACHAL PRADESH (II Innings): Hemant Dogra c Pawan b Mithun 25 (30m, 30b, 4x4, 1x6), Sangram Singh lbw Sagar 4 (36m, 17b), Bhavin Thakkar c Pawan b Arvind 3 (25m, 16b), Vineet Indulkar c Pawan b Mithun 13 (41m, 30b, 3x4), Kuldip Dewan lbw Mithun 1 (9m, 6b), Paras Dogra (batting) 32 (117m, 67b, 5x4), Manvinder Bisla (batting) 54 (105m, 76b, 9x4). Extras (B-8, LB-11, NB-2) 21. Total (5 wkts, 40 overs) 153.
Fall of wickets: 1-29 (H Dogra), 2-29 (Sangram), 3-40 (Thakkar), 4-41 (Dewan), 5-52 (Indulkar).
Bowling: Aditya Sagar 11-3-32-1, Abhimanyu Mithun 14-4-51-3 (nb-2), S Arvind 9-3-26-1, Stuart Binny 3-0-13-0, Sunil Joshi 3-1-12-0.